


Horizon

by kugure



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, Past AoNiji, WIP, unbetaed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:01:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23182933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kugure/pseuds/kugure
Summary: Aomine Daiki is just like the ocean. The deep blue of his eyes and hair. The unpredictable manner. Formless. Exciting. Challenging. Facing him is just like facing the ocean. Sometimes it’s calming and soothing. Sometimes it’s raging and lethal if you weren’t ready. Sometimes it’s full of surprise and it’s flustered you. Just the like ocean, Aomine Daiki hides so much beauty inside him.And doesn’t Kagami Taiga love the ocean. He’s a surfer. He’s a diver. And he loves exploring the sea. He loves being in the sea.When Kagami first met Aomine, he fell in love. He always wanted to marry the ocean if he could. And apparently, he could.“Dai-chan hates the ocean.”But, just like the ocean, Aomine Daiki also hides so much sadness and pain inside him. And it takes more than just a courage to explore all of it.***At the horizon, the fiery red of twilight sky and the deep blue of the sea meet one another, and becomes one.
Relationships: Aomine Daiki/Kagami Taiga
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in [my tumblr](https://grettalks.tumblr.com/post/167826249734/part-1).  
> I put it here with the hope that I will continue writing this someday.

Kagami never categorized himself as a kind person. Sure, he didn’t mind helping an old lady to cross a street or gave up his seat for a pregnant lady, but most of the time, he didn’t care. He spent the majority of his life being alone anyway, making trip from country to country with his sailing yacht, hunting waves across the world so he could do the thing he loved the most in the whole world; surfing.

So, he wasn’t really sure why he was trapped in this situation right now; with a weird teenager with baby blue hair in the passenger seat of a car he rent during his stay in this island, and a huge Siberian husky on said teenager’s lap.

Well, it all started when Kagami was getting ready to ride the first wave that morning, and he found a very huge dog lying on the beach. Kagami _hated_ dog, so he supposed to not care about that dog and just focused on the wave coming, but the dog whimpered in pain and Kagami felt pity. That, and suddenly a scrawny kid with blue hair appeared and said, “Please help us,” while looking at him with his big and round blue eyes, pleading with an expression that Kagami couldn’t even say no to. The kid wouldn’t be able to lift the huge dog anyway, seeing how scrawny he was.

So, here they were. Kagami drove the kid to the nearest vet the kid told him to go to.

“It’s six in the morning, kid. Are you sure this vet is open?” Kagami asked, though he still drove anyway.

“Aomine-kun will always open for Nigou. And I’m not a kid. I’m nineteen, and my name is Kuroko Tetsuya.”

_Huh, doesn’t look like it,_ Kagami thought absent mindedly as he was giving the kid— _Kuroko_ —a sideway glance. “I’m Kagami Taiga.” Kagami decided to be polite and introduced himself in return despite that he was still thinking that Kuroko looked like a fourteen-year-old instead. Not that he actually care if Kuroko was lying to himself about his age.

The vet that Kuroko meant was pretty close; it took ten minutes driving to get there. Kagami quickly got out from the car and opened the passenger seat door for Kuroko. Reluctantly, he carried the dog out (he already carried it earlier and he was glad the dog was unconscious so he didn’t really mind), while Kuroko ran to the front door of the clinic to open the door. Kagami frowned at the fact that it was still very early in the morning and the clinic didn’t even lock the door, but all thought disappeared from his mind once he saw who greeted them inside.

Kagami loved sea. Like he said, he spent the majority of his life on the sea, sailing, surfing, diving, anything related to the deep blue. And he never saw a pair of eyes so _blue_ like that, and Kagami felt like he could get lost in it forever. The gaze was sharp and _drowning_ and Kagami just couldn’t tear his eyes off of him. Too bad he only glanced at Kagami for a few seconds.

“Tetsu,” the man said once he saw Kuroko stood before Kagami. “What happened?” His voice was a nice baritone. Just like the deep rumble of storm in the middle of the ocean.

“Nigou,” Kuroko said, turned towards Kagami, to the dog that was still unconscious and whimpering. “I think he ate something bad. Can you help him, Aomine-kun?”

_Aomine_. Kagami made sure to remember that name.

Aomine frowned a little and gestured to the backroom so they could follow them. “Lay him down here,” Aomine instructed to Kagami this time as he put on his elastic gloves, and Kagami complied, happy to get rid of the dog.

Aomine took his time examining the dog, and while he did it, he whispered soothing things to the dog’s ear. His voice was still deep, but softer around the edge, too bad Kagami couldn’t make out what he said.

“He ate a fishbone it seems, and something stuck in his throat. I’m gonna make him to throw everything up,” Aomine declared after a while. “You two better wait outside because I’m sure it’s not gonna be a pleasant sight to see.”

Kagami agreed to that, because who would want to watch a dog throwing up anyway but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from Aomine so he was stuck standing there, until Aomine looked up at him and frowned deeper. “What are you still doing here? Get out.”

So, Kagami got out, and looked for Kuroko.

“Kuroko,” he called when he found the kid sitting in the waiting room. “Do you think your dog needs to do some regular check up after this?”

Kuroko nodded. “Yes. I always try to take Nigou here every day anyway. Not for check up, but Nigou loves Aomine-kun. But it’s kind of hard to do that because I have class most days, so I only take him here once a week.”

“I’ll take him here when you’re in class tomorrow.”

“Really? You’re very kind, Kagami-kun. Thank you.”

Kagami didn’t even know why he offered that. He wasn’t a kind person, remember?

(Or probably he knew but pushed the knowledge to the back of his head.)


	2. Chapter 2

It appeared that Aomine’s clinic opened twenty four hours in a week. And everyone in the area knew him as the best vet because everyone took their pets to him whenever something happened, cats, birds, reptiles, but mostly dogs—he always cursed this island and its huge population of dogs because this island had the best waves in the whole world to ride but it also had _dogs_ and somehow Kagami’s love for good waves won his hatred this time.

And so, even though Kagami hated dogs to the bones, it looked like dogs were Aomine’s favorite pet. Especially Nigou. Aomine would talk to Nigou in his softer voice and made Nigou barked and swung his tail happily, even licked Aomine’s face, made Aomine laughed (and his laughter was the most beautiful voice Kagami’s ever heard, only second to nice sound of waves).

“You’re new here,” Aomine said to him, after his third visit to the clinic to do Nigou’s check up. It was Aomine’s first attempt to a casual conversation with him beside the usual, “Nigou’s fine. Tell Tetsu that,” because mostly, Aomine’s words were directed to Nigou rather than him.

(And how Kagami hated Nigou even more now because Nigou could have Aomine’s attention easily. It wasn’t that he wasn’t trying. _He did_. But Aomine just wasn’t interested in him as much as he was interested in Nigou. Maybe he was straight? But well, Kagami didn’t mind being only _a friend—_ even though that thought made his stomach churned in a very unpleasant feeling—to Aomine if that was he wanted.)

“Just visiting,” Kagami answered. “Arrived two weeks ago and probably will stay here for a couple of months until this season ends.”

Aomine spared him a scrutinizing gaze and Kagami once again caught up on his beautiful eyes. “You’re a surfer?” he asked, to which Kagami nodded.

“Got my sailing yacht down on the Marina. You surf too?”

Aomine didn’t answer, but Kagami noticed the dark gleam on his blue eyes. “There, Nigou. You should be really okay by now. Don’t eat anything from the beach, you know that? Spare Tetsu’s heart for once.”

And that was it. Aomine ignored him again.

.

So, begun Kagami’s new routine. He woke up at five, checked on his yacht just in case there was something wrong with the bilge pump or other stuff (because no matter what he did, the bilge pump was always his biggest problem in this boat), and when he deemed everything was okay, he headed out to catch the first wave along with the sunrise. He surfed for an hour or two, met up with Kuroko and Nigou by the jetty, and then drove him to school before taking Nigou to Aomine’s place.

This time though, when he opened the clinic’s door, it wasn’t Aomine who greeted them. But some other guy with black hair who smiled as soon as Nigou jumped on him to lick his face. (Kagami was really glad Nigou never did that to him. The dog was behaved enough to know that Kagami wouldn’t appreciate being licked or jumped on, though Nigou made sure to swing his tail extra hard whenever Kagami appeared. Quite endearing if Kagami might say.)

“Hey, there, buddy,” he said, dragged Nigou’s inside and then looked at Kagami. “And you are…?”

“Kagami. Kagami Taiga,” he answered. “Helping Kuroko to take Nigou here.”

“Oh, I’m Nijimura Shuzo,” he offered his hand and when Kagami accepted it, he was welcomed with a firm grip. “Nice to meet you.”

But before Kagami could say anything in return, Aomine appeared with a big yawn and smiled when he saw Nigou. Nigou gave him even a more excited treatment than when he saw Nijimura.

“Why are you still here?” Aomine asked towards Nijimura, totally ignoring Kagami’s presence.

Nijimura rolled his eyes at Aomine. “I’m heading out soon. But you better be ready later. I’m taking you to lunch, and I don’t accept no. See you later, Daiki,” and he reached for Aomine’s head to ruffle his hair—Kagami clenched his jaw at the sight, because; he called Aomine by his first name, the gesture was so intimate, and even though Aomine’s hair looked so soft being ruffled like that and Kagami really wanted to touch it too, the biggest concern was that Aomine didn’t protest. He only rolled his eyes and watched Nijimura go after Nijimura offered Kagami a nod and a smile which Kagami could only reply rigidly.

Once Nijimura disappeared, Kagami turned to Aomine. “Is that your…?”

“He’s the owner of this clinic. So he’s my boss, yeah,” Aomine answered, but it still didn’t make Kagami felt anymore relieved. Though, Aomine didn’t give him anymore chance to speak because he already bent down to cup Nigou’s snout in his hands, “Come on, buddy. I have new chew toy in the back. Come,” and disappeared to the backroom with Nigou.

.

Kagami was more familiar with sea than terrain. He stopped in some country for months, sure, but he always got back to the sea in the end. He bought his sailing yacht when he was twenty-one-year old, when he already got full access to his parent’s inheritance. He quit his job at the Marina and left America to wherever he pleased; living using his late parents’ money or helping other guys he met to fix their boat—Kagami was pretty good at it, luckily.

But this time, for the first time, Kagami didn’t feel like going back to the sea.


	3. Chapter 3

The next time Kagami visited the clinic, it wasn’t Nijimura he found inside. But a very pretty woman with long pink hair. She laughed and leaned against Aomine and Aomine smiled at her too, while tucking some of her hair behind her ear. The interaction was very intimate Kagami couldn’t help but look away, afraid to ruin it.

But Nigou did it for them. He barked happily, made the two turned their heads towards Kagami and Nigou and the woman squealed happily. “Nigou!” she said, jogged towards Nigou and hugged the Siberian Husky. “Long time no see! I miss you so much! I promise to visit more often.”

_Huh? So she’s not living around here?_

“You better be,” Aomine said, following behind her. “Nigou’s not the only one missing you so much.”

Those words were enough to make Kagami felt like being punched in the gut, but he tried his best to keep his expression neutral. Until the woman looked up at him.

“Oh God, where is my manner,” she said, smiled sweetly and let Nigou go to start attacking Aomine while she stood up and offered her hand at Kagami. “I’m Momoi Satsuki. You must be Kagami Taiga? Nice to finally meet you. Tetsu-kun had told me a lot about you. Thank you for helping him with Nigou.”

Kagami smiled too, albeit a bit awkwardly because he didn’t really know what to say. Being alone in the sea for months made him rusty in social interaction that didn’t include he took someone back to his yacht for a quick fuck.

(That was also why he didn’t make any progress on Aomine, because he wanted him to be more than a one night stand.)

(But it looked like Aomine already had a girlfriend already, so…)

“Nice to meet you too,” Kagami said in the end. “I hope Kuroko doesn’t tell anything bad.”

Momoi laughed. She was so very pretty it made Kagami felt even more bitter. “Don’t worry about that. He said that you surf and own a yacht in Marina? If you don’t mind, we can surf together! It’s been a while since I surf with someone.”

Kagami usually never rejected an offer to surf together, but he wasn’t sure about this one. “Aomine never accompany you?”

Instead of an answer, Momoi smiled at him, and Kagami noticed the same dark gleam in her eyes with the one he saw in Aomine’s sometimes. “Anyway, I better go. I’ll visit again this weekend.” She turned around to give Aomine a kiss on his cheek and Kagami noticed how Aomine held her gently.

“I’ll hold on to that. See you this weekend,” he said, and let Momoi go. She waved at Kagami before he went out from the clinic.

First, Nijimura. Now, Momoi.

“She’s your boss too?” he asked, tried not to sound too bitter but probably he failed because Aomine gave him an unimpressed look.

“She’s my ex-wife,” he answered courtly before taking Nigou to the backroom, saying sweetly to the dog that he was having an iguana to check on today and if Nigou could be a good boy, he would let him help.

Though, Kagami could only freeze in spot this time.

.

“You should just ask him out, you know.”

Kagami, who was still in the middle of fixing the injector pump of his genset dropped his tools. Luckily it wasn’t hit his feet and didn’t cause anymore damage.

“Excuse me?” he asked, looked up at Kuroko who was sitting on the stairs down to his engine room, sipping his vanilla milkshake.

It had been almost two months since Kagami stayed in this island, and Kuroko had been hanging around his yacht since that day weeks ago when Nigou was found on the beach, dying. (Okay, the dog wasn’t really dying, but that how it looked back then.)

Nigou was probably upstairs and play alone if Kuroko was here. Kagami used to people come and goes on his property, especially if he was staying quite long in an area and getting a bit friendly with the locals. And besides, Kuroko wasn’t harmless. The kid surprised him from time to time by appearing so suddenly (like right now), but mostly, he was harmless. And he was also studying marine engineering and Kagami was more than happy to help him fixing things in his yacht for free. The kid was quite capable anyway.

“You should ask him out,” Kuroko repeated, snapped Kagami out of his train of thought, back to the topic.

“I should ask who out?”

“Aomine-kun.”

Kagami almost dropped a screwdriver. Kuroko had that habit, calling everyone like that even though he was much younger than the one he called. He even called him that and Kagami was thirty three years old. Almost twice Kuroko’s age. And he was pretty sure that Aomine was on his thirty as well.

“Um, why?” Kagami asked, tried to sound nonchalant and focusing on the injector pump again.

“Because you like him and pining over him.”

Kagami snorted. “He’s good looking, yes. But I like him doesn’t mean he likes me too. I don’t even know whether he’s interested in men. And I believe he’s still in love with his ex-wife anyway.”

Kuroko didn’t answer immediately, but Kagami could hear the annoying slurp of vanilla milkshake. Did this kid ever consume something else beside vanilla milkshake? No wonder he was so scrawny.

“Aomine-kun likes men to. He and Nijimura-kun were fucking from times to times back then.”

At that, Kagami really did drop his screwdriver and this time it hit his thumb and Kagami swore a lot of profanities before he finally picked it up and glared at Kuroko. “And that supposed to encourage me on asking him out?”

“It’s past tense, Kagami-kun. It doesn’t happen again.”

“How are you so sure about that anyway?”

“I know because I had a crush on Aomine-kun during high school and got jealous whenever Nijimura-kun was around. Then Aomine-kun told me that he isn’t in that kind of relationship with Nijimura-kun anymore because he doesn’t fuck his boss,” Kuroko explained calmly, but only managed to make Kagami’s eyes stretched even wider.

Kagami didn’t know which information to process first.

1) Aomine did fuck with Nijimura

2) Kuroko had a crush on Aomine??

“Uh,” Kagami said dumbly instead. “But it still doesn’t change the fact that he’s still in love with his ex-wife.”

Kuroko slurped his milkshake again, but didn’t say anything, so Kagami took that chance to ask, “How long he’s been divorced with Momoi anyway? And is his marriage before, or after Nijimura?”

Kuroko didn’t slurp his drink, but he also didn’t answer that question. Instead, he only looked at Kagami with those big blue eyes—and unlike Aomine’s eyes, Kuroko’s eyes were so unnerving borderline creepy. Then he stood up.

“You better ask that to Aomine yourself,” he said, “of course after you manage to actually ask him out on a date.” Then he left.

That damn kid.


	4. Chapter 4

It was raining that morning when Kagami woke up at his usual hour and he groaned, disappointed. Raining meant he couldn’t surf properly and since his biological clock already demanded him to wake up now, there was no way he could go back to sleep.

Kagami tossed around in his bed, played with his laptop and even tried to mess around with his diving compressor for a bit but then got bored eventually. So he decided to have breakfast, but when he opened his fridge, it was almost empty. Of course, he forgot to do grocery shopping. Kagami slammed the fridge door close and cursed, then navigated his phone to send a quick text to Kuroko.

**I need to do some grocery shopping. Send me the direction to the nearest market that already opened at this hour?**

Kagami felt a bit pathetic about himself because he had been here for two months yet the only person he could consider as a friend was only a nineteen-year-old kid. Well, he couldn’t be blamed though. Kuroko did look fourteen, but most of the time he was even more mature than Kagami. And besides, as much as he wanted to befriend Aomine, the guy didn’t seem interested. He still talked more to Nigou than Kagami.

**Good morning to you too, Kagami-kun. Luckily, there is a market that opens already.**

Kagami ignored the sassy replied and clicked the link of the map Kuroko sent to him. It was pretty close. Probably around fifteen minutes’ drive. Kagami replied Kuroko with a short ‘thanks’ and then got ready to go.

Kagami might love the sea of this island, but the terrain not so much. This island was part of a country that had a stupid rule that all school from kindergarten to high school started at seven o’clock, and of course, with this island’s small roads, the traffic jam was to be expected. Kagami cursed that stupid rule and his stupid self because he should’ve rent a motorbike instead of a car, but when he finally arrived at the market around thirty minutes later, he could stop fuming.

It was a traditional market and Kagami’s mood improved already as everything sold here was fresh. He could make a very decent meal out of it, and the thought of a decent meal made him smile. Kagami already set his eyes upon the stall that sold fresh meats when he caught something in his peripheral that made Kagami turned away from fresh meats.

It was Aomine, frowning deep as he got down from his motorbike. He was a bit damp since it was still raining a bit, and Kagami took on the sight with so much gratitude. Aomine had a very decent muscle for being a vet. His arms especially, and those slender fingers, and his narrow hips. His short navy hair stuck a bit on his forehead with the rain, and Kagami had this urge to ran his fingers on it. Aomine was in shorts and a sleeveless shirt, with running shoes as well. He looked like he was just finished running then grab his bike to come here. Kagami gulped and forcefully tore his gaze away, because it was so inappropriate but too late. Aomine already caught him watching.

Kagami really hoped his blush didn’t quite visible.

“Are you a stalker now?”

Kagami thought Aomine would just ignore him and walked away, but unexpectedly he approached him, made Kagami’s heart jumped to his throat. Aomine was wearing his little smirk that made him looked devilishly handsome. Kagami was so, so weak.

“Er, no? I need some groceries and Kuroko directed me here,” he answered, also too late to realize that Aomine’s question was meant as a joke. He knew he wasn’t the brightest bulb during his school era, but _come on_.

Aomine snorted at that. “Right. Tetsu is the stalker. That, I’m not surprised,” he said. “See you later then.”

And before Kagami could say anything, he left.

(And Kagami cursed himself mentally and swore that next time he saw Aomine, he would at least hold a conversation longer than five seconds.)

.

Momoi paid him a visit sometimes during the weekend, ready with her wetsuit and surfboard, and somehow, that madeKagami’s bitterness towards her died down a little bit—he thought Momoi was the type who would wear a too revealing bikini and pretend to be able to surf, but apparently, she took this sport seriously.

“Your boat is very nice,” she said as she jumped in without much help. “Tetsu-kun showed me which one and I invite myself here to take you to the best spot of surfing on this island, is that okay?”

Kagami who was almost ready to head out himself with his own surfboard nodded. “You arrive on time anyway,” he said. “And where’s the best spot anyway? I’ve been here for two months.”

Momoi laughed at him. “But it still doesn’t make you local. I bet even Tetsu-kun knows better places for surfing than you already.”

Kagami let her dragged him out of his boat anyway.

And apparently, Momoi wasn’t exaggerating. The place was secluded, and beautiful, with not so many people around. Kagami loved this spot already. And so far, this was the best ride he ever experienced in his whole life. When he got out of the water two hours later, a big grin was plastered on his face and Momoi walked next to him, giggling happily.

“That was awesome,” she said. And Kagami couldn’t agree more.

“You surf in here often then?”

Momoi shook her pretty head, splashed some water to Kagami’s direction and Kagami just wiped his face with his palm.

“Not really. Dai-chan was the one who surfed in here a lot. He is the one who took me to this place for the first time anyway.”

And Kagami had to stop walking. Momoi seemed like she realized what she just said, and stopped walking as well, looking at Kagami with a horror look on her face. She gapped, tried to say something, but Kagami beat her to it, “Was? He used to surf but not anymore? Why?”

“Fuck my life,” Momoi said instead, and Kagami raised an eyebrow because he didn’t expect to swear like that. She always looked so prim and proper all the time. Though Kagami knew he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. “Listen, don’t tell anyone, especially Dai-chan that I told you that. He would kill me,” she said, pinched the bridge of her nose. “But, yes, he stops. Dai-chan hates the n.”

Kagami still wanted to ask. Why. What happened. Why a man who had a pair of eyes as beautiful as the ocean itself hated the ocean? But Momoi already turned around and walked away, left no room for Kagami to ask. Kagami decided to chase her still.

“If you wanna know, it’s not my story to tell,” Momoi said when he caught up.

“But you’re his ex-wife.”

“I’m his ex-wife, but still, it’s not my story to tell. And besides,” she added, this time with a smile, “you should ask him out already. It’s better you do that soon or Tetsu-kun will set you up in his dreadful plan.”

Kagami chocked on air. “You—“

Momoi laughed, loud and clear. “Here I tell you one thing; Dai-chan and I are so a lifetime ago. We’re only friends now. You don’t need to worry. I have a steady boyfriend now anyway, and it’s not Dai-chan.”

Kagami couldn’t deny that at that instant, he decided that he liked Momoi so much. “Um? How about Nijimura then?”

Momoi gave him a wicked grin. “Nijimura happened a few years after we divorced. So, you have to worry about,” and then winked at him.

Okay. Maybe Kagami didn’t like her _so much_ anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

The next time turned out to be a few days after Momoi’s visit. He was heading to the nearest restaurant with the Marina because he was too lazy to cook for himself that night, and he found Aomine sat alone in the corner. 

Kagami froze for a moment, and then took a deep breath and walked towards the man.

He already promised himself that he would have a conversation longer than five seconds the next time he saw Aomine anyway, right?

Here we go.

“Hey.”

Aomine looked up from his food—it looked and smelled like teriyaki burger why the hell someone as beautiful as Aomine liked teriyaki burger, but hey, nobody was perfect—and gave Kagami a questioning look.

“Mind if I join you?” Kagami asked again, and then Aomine gave him _that smile_ and Kagami was glad that Aomine answered, “Sure,” because he needed to sit down immediately or he would melt against the restaurant’s floor.

Kagami was so desperate to start a conversation, but didn’t know how, so he was glad when the waitress came to take his order first, and after she left, Aomine was the one who spoke first.

“Are you sure you’re going to eat that all?”

Kagami blinked at him and then grinned. “Yeah. You know, hard time at sea, I tend to eat as much as possible during my visit on lands because who knows when I can eat this much again.”

Aomine snorted, but Kagami had relaxed a bit thanks for that silly opening from Aomine. “You’re not with Nijimura?” he dared himself to ask. Momoi did say he had to be worried about that man.

Aomine smiled _that smile_ to Kagami again, but this time with a hint of amusement. “Shuzo is my boss, he takes me to lunch from times to times because he thinks I work too hard. But we’re not joining at the hips.”

Kagami nodded, wasn’t quite sure how to ask whether he was still _sleeping_ with Shuzo to confirm Kuroko’s information, and apparently, Aomine saw him fidgeting because he said, “No, I’m not fucking with Shuzo anymore if that’s your concern. And also, I’m not seeing anyone.”

Kagami was embarrassed now. Was he really that obvious on his interest towards Aomine?

Aomine snorted again. “Pretty much. But Tetsu keeps bothering me to go out with you as well and stops acting so cool and distant towards you. And before you ask whether I can read your mind or not, the answer is no. You just said that last question out loud.”

Kagami groaned. “Sorry. I tend to do that when I’m nervous,” he admitted, though smiling a little because it looked like Aomine wasn’t really mind about his interest. He was saved from seeing something else by the waitress who came and served his food. So, Kagami decided to dig in first, made sure his stomach wasn’t empty before he started talking again. Empty stomach always led to dumb words.

“You don’t need to be nervous actually,” Aomine said. “You’re hot,” he said that so casually as he ran his gaze towards Kagami’s body and Kagami couldn’t help but feeling a bit self-conscious. He knew he had the look. But still. “What makes you so worried about?” Aomine asked. 

“You. Hot bod won’t guarantee you won’t reject me,” Kagami answered once he managed to swallow the food.

Aomine laughed, not insulting, just amused, and Kagami couldn’t help but smile as well. “You helped Tetsu with Nigou even though you don’t like dogs very much. You hang out with Satsuki. Shuzo just met you once but he’s a very good judge of someone’s personality and he thinks I should accept whatever it is you offer me.” Aomine leaned closer towards him and Kagami’s heart did this silly acrobatic moves because _damn those pretty eyes are so close_. “You are on my friends’ good side. So, you got nothing to worry about, really.”

“What I need is to just ask you out?”

Aomine leaned back to his chair and Kagami tried not to let the disappointment showing. “Exactly,” he confirmed. He kept his blue eyes locked on Kagami’s as he sipped his drink and then said, “You can drive me home after this.”

And Kagami never tried to finish his food as fast as possible like right now.

The rest of the dinner went pretty smoothly. Kagami managed to hold the conversation, didn’t put his foot on his mouth for once, and Aomine was an interesting person he talked with. Kagami was curious about his work as a vet, but whenever Kagami mentioned about sea or ocean in general, Aomine looked troubled. (“Dai-chan hates sea,” Momoi did say that to him the other day.)

So, even though he still couldn’t find out why, Kagami was happy enough to get to know Aomine better than the previous weeks, and when he stood before Aomine’s front door, he was hella satisfied to have Aomine smiled a lot tonight.

“Thanks for tonight. I had fun,” Kagami said when Aomine turned around to face him after he unlocked the door. 

“For an unplanned date, this is quite fun indeed,” Aomine said, and Kagami noticed his eyes flickered to his lips. That made him realized other things, like how Aomine had stepped too close into his personal space and that he smelled so damn good Kagami had to fight the urge to lean down and kissed his neck. Aomine also as tall as him, maybe even a few inches taller, and Kagami knew this close proximity could make him go crazy. He needed to do something.

But before he stepped away, Aomine approached him first. His palm traced Kagami’s chest, made Kagami’s breath hitched as he pulled his shirt to make him closer, and then captured Kagami’s lips to his own.

Kissing Aomine, to be honest, was even more pleasant than riding the best wave. Aomine’s lips were chapped slightly, but Kagami didn’t mind it. Aomine moved his lips against Kagami, sent pleasant feelings all over his body, and when Kagami opened up for him, Aomine’s tongue started to slide in and Kagami couldn’t help but let out a low groan. _Aomine was an amazing kisser_. 

Kagami got lost in the kiss, and the next time he noticed his surroundings, his back was against the front door of Aomine’s house, and his hands were on Aomine’s narrow hips, as Aomine pressed his body against his. 

“My bed. Now,” Aomine panted against the kiss, and Kagami had this urge to shut him up by kissing him again, but gladly, his rational mind snapped him up from the pleasure.

“No, no, Aomine,” Kagami said, let Aomine kissed him hard once again, but then tried to push him away no matter how good Aomine’s lips felt against the bare skin of his neck. “I don’t—don’t.” Kagami seemed like he couldn’t find the right words to finish his sentence because Aomine’s lips were still attacking him and _God, it felt too good_. But somehow, a push to Aomine’s chest was enough to make Aomine stopped attacking his neck. 

Aomine stepped back, his eyes still dwindled with lust and Kagami found that blue eyes were even fiercer and prettier than before. But Aomine was clearly glaring at him now.

“Sorry, Aomine. I want you, but not like this,” Kagami finally managed to say, though he realized he was still panting, and his hardened cock was uncomfortable in his pants. But he needed to get this straight. “I don’t want this to be a one night stand.”

Usually, it was the right sentence for anyone else. But apparently, Aomine wasn’t anyone else, because if so, he looked even angrier right now. His glare got even more intense and he took another step backward.

“Well then, you got no business in here,” he said, his voice harsh and Kagami’s heart grown cold, wondering where he did it wrong. “Thanks for the ride anyway. Thanks, Kagami.”

“Aomine—“

He tried, but Aomine already got inside his house and slammed the door on his face, left Kagami gaping outside.

_What the fuck? What the actual fuck?_


	6. Chapter 6

Kagami went back to Marina still feeling confused. And when he settled down for the night, hoping that the softness of his bed would at least lull him to sleep, he was so wrong. He was so confused about Aomine’s behavior. Why the fuck he got angry because Kagami didn’t want it to be a one night stand? Shouldn’t it be flattering him that Kagami wanted to get serious with him?

And despite his confusion, Kagami got a serious case of blue balls here. He decided to jack it off to get it done with, but what he had in mind for jacking off material was only how hot Aomine’s mouth against his was, the solid press of his body, and how warm Aomine’s palms on his skin were. Embarrassingly, Kagami came pretty fast. It left him in a more miserable state than he was before though.

Before, he was angry, confused and horny. Now, he was still angry, confused, regretful, disappointed with himself, and horny still.

Probably a good night sleep would make him feel better in the morning.

Again, he was wrong. He could barely sleep that night, and when he woke up, he didn’t even care to catch the first wave. He made a beeline to his liquor’s storage and poured himself a glass of Captain Morgan, didn’t care that it was not even seven in the morning.

He still couldn’t figure Aomine out. That man was just as confusing as the sea in the storm. He wanted to go back to his house, or probably went to the clinic instead because he would find him there more likely, and asked him what the hell he did wrong so he could fix it, but he wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea.

Though, in the end, he still got out of the Marina, drove to the clinic and parked in front of it on his usual spot. As he expected, Aomine was there, talking to a little girl and her pet cat, and then sent the girl off with a smile on his face. There was no trace of frustration on his face at all, and it made Kagami’s heart hurt a little.

He got out of the car, and when Aomine saw him, his face turned dark. There was no sign of the sweet smile he gave the girl earlier.

“Aomine,” Kagami called, jogged towards him so he could make it inside the clinic before Aomine slammed the door shut at his face like last night. “I’m sorry if I—“

“No need to apologize,” Aomine cut him off. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“But you’re angry with me?”

Aomine sighed and turned around to face him. “Look, really, you’ve done nothing wrong. It’s not you, it’s me, so let’s just do ourselves a favor and not meet again, alright? I need to work now. Have a good day, Kagami.”

“But why—?”

Aomine didn’t even bother to answer, disappeared to the backroom already.

Kagami wondered how many times he would have to see Aomine disappeared before him like that.

.

Kagami could’ve just left this island and pretended like nothing happened like he didn’t get his heartbroken. He had been here for almost four months anyway, he already got enough of the waves. Besides, the surfing season for this island had finished a week ago. He really should’ve left by now. 

But Kagami couldn’t find himself to sail out from the Marina. Even with his yacht ready. He couldn’t leave without finding out why Aomine was angry with him, and before he could reconcile the situation between them.

Aomine was just like the ocean. The deep blue of his eyes and hair. The unpredictable manner. Formless. Exciting. Challenging. Facing him was just like facing the ocean. Sometimes it was calming and soothing. Sometimes it was raging and lethal If you weren’t ready. Sometimes it was full of surprised and it flustered you. Just like the ocean, Aomine hid so much beauty inside him. 

And Kagami did love the ocean.

.

It wasn’t that Kagami was lack of trying to reconcile. He knew Aomine needed his space, so he stayed away for a couple of days. He resorted on talking to Kuroko about what was happening, and Kuroko gave him that blank stare that made him feel uncomfortable, made him feel like he was being judged even though he was aware that Kuroko wasn’t judging him. Only thinking.

“I can’t help you with this one,” Kuroko said in the end. “I don’t know what’s happening as well. Better chance to talk with Momoi-san or Nijimura-kun, but I don’t know whether it’s a wise choice or not.” Kuroko was silent again for a while before he spoke up. “You can bring Nigou to the clinic again next week. Maybe Aomine-kun will talk to you again that way.”

It didn’t work. Aomine welcomed Nigou with the same warmth as usual, but he ignored Kagami even more. As if Kagami was not more than the door of his clinic entrance. As if Nigou walked inside the clinic alone instead of being taken by Kagami. 

Kagami knew when he was unwanted, but usually, he knew why. And he was getting frustrated here to find out the reason. Kagami had apologized to Aomine if he was really mad about the other day. But then he kept giving him the cold shoulder still and Kagami didn’t know what he did wrong. He could only promise not to repeat a mistake if he knew what the mistake was, right? If only Aomine would speak to him, Kagami would back off happily. Still heartbroken, yes, but he could deal with it eventually.

Kagami bumped his head to his steering wheel as he was about to take Nigou back to Kuroko’s place. But suddenly his passenger’s door opened and Momoi slid in, patted Nigou so the dog would make room for her to sit down as she closed the door back.

“Momoi?” Kagami asked, surprised and confused about what she was doing here. Hell, it seemed confused and surprised as his default emotion these days.

“I thought the surfing season is over,” she said, made Kagami raised his eyebrow because he really didn’t know where this conversation was going.

“Um, yeah,” Kagami confirmed, though somehow he sounded so unsure himself.

“So why haven’t you left?”

 _Ah_.

Kagami sighed. “I made Aomine mad and I try to… apologize. But it doesn’t work very well.”

Kagami thought Momoi would start lecturing him about how dare he hurt Aomine and then asked him to just leave this island and don’t ever come back, but instead, she sighed deeply. That automatically made Kagami turned his head towards her, and she offered him a weak smile.

“Trust me, Dai-chan is not mad at you. He’s mad at himself,” she said.

 _That didn’t make any sense at all._ “Huh? Then why he’s ignoring me?”

Momoi chewed her lower lip as she ran her fingers through Nigou’s fur, clearly channeling her stress. “It’s kinda hard to explain,” she said. “He told me what happened between you and him and I just finished yelling at him for being so fucking dumb,” she chuckled when Kagami gave her a shocked look. “Yeah, he deserved to be yelled at. I know this mess is his fault. But Dai-chan is a difficult person.” Momoi took a deep breath, and then looked at Kagami with her blossom eyes. “It’s about something that happened in the past. He still can’t forgive himself over it, and because of that,” Momoi sighed again, “he thinks that he doesn’t deserve any form of love. That is very stupid.”

“But he lets you and Nijimura love him anyway.”

The laughter that came out from Momoi over that statement was very dry. “Nijimura was only his fuck buddy. No strings attached at all. And it takes _years_ to Dai-chan to finally admit him as his best friend. While me…,” she made a vague gesture with her hand that Kagami didn’t really understand, then turned his body slightly so she faced him better.

“Listen,” she said, firmer. “Dai-chan and I were only twenty when we got married. And then divorced three years later. And he always, always thinks of me as his sister and a best friend even before that, so it didn’t really change the bond between us.”

“Why did you two divorce anyway? Did you hurt him? Did he hurt you?”

Momoi was smiling, but Kagami could see that her eyes were glassy as she shook her head. “Dai-chan will never hurt me. But he hurt himself and thinking that he was hurting me, and still can’t forgive himself because of that.”

“What does that m—?”

“Anyway,” Momoi cut him off, wiped her knuckles over the corner of her eyes and smiled wider to Kagami. “I appreciate it that you still stay here. I hope you don’t give up on him, Kagami. I have a good feeling about you. If there’s someone who can make Dai-chan feels better and forgives himself, it’s you. I know. Woman’s intuition. So, if you decided not to give up, I should let you know that it’s worth it. Because Dai-chan doesn’t know how to love other than _too much_.”

Kagami gapped at her, still trying to digest everything she said, but she already pushed the passenger door open. “See you around then, Kagamin,” she said, gave him a wink, and left.

Five minutes later, Kagami was still parked there, only noticing that Momoi just called him ‘Kagamin’—whatever that meant—and that people in this island seemed to love leaving him abruptly with an even more confused state than before.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to hit me up on my [tumblr](http://grettalks.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/grettalks?s=09).


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